The Christmas Invasion

[jetpack_monkey]

A Doctor Who special episode that's mostly about how we're all screwed when the Doctor's away? Huh.

Tennant's doing well for himself. One minute goofy, flighty ADD boy stringing syllables together like popcorn, then next deadly serious and very dark. Not a far cry from Eccleston, and yet very much completely different. The sword fight was... stupid. As was the lost hand. "OMG, you cut off my hand, oh there it is!" Tennant appears to lack a certain discipline that kept Eccleston's antics charming rather than tiring -- I hope that this is just growing pains.

Rose's emo throughout the episode was quite daft. "The world's ending and the Doctor's OMG left me!" Also, the robot Santas and deadly Christmas tree seemed like goofy recaps of "Rose" that didn't really fit with where the plot eventually headed.

I do like that Ten's personality has changed enough that he's actually fond of Jackie and Mickey (although one suspects that he really always was on one level or another, and a new face just lets him show it). Also, he and Rose have jumped right into the shippy goodness very quickly -- too quickly. I don't trust the new Doctor yet, and this seems too much like Rose dealing with her grief in an unhealthy fashion.

Harriet Jones, Prime Minister ("Yes, we know")! Very cool to see her back, even if she did spend a lot of time hinting darkly about spin-offs to come. 6 words, indeed.

Looking forward to the new season, but with trepidation. This isn't the slambang home run that we could have hoped for after so many months.

Comments

scattered impressions (recorded in your journal! woo!)

[bitterbyrden.livejournal.com]

Okay, I finally watched it this morning and let myself click into this entry. And, sorry to say, but I feel a little let down! I was really excited about it, as everyone else was obviously, but I kind of feel like they phoned it in. The whole thing felt sort of forced to me, and self-conscious to boot. Like, too much in the way of winkwinkCATCHPHRASE! Hello, fandom! D'ya miss us? and not enough actual substance. There is a certain degree of cheesiness to be expected with Doctor Who in general, but a few moments made me just cringe. They didn't come off as cheeky as much as they came off as cheap.

I thought Tennant was ...okay. They didn't give him much to do until the very end, so everything was kind of like "[pant pant]This is my sick and harried face! I'm sick!" -- just seemed like over-doing it, to me. I do miss Eccleston a bit, but as you said, it might just be growing pains. It almost seemed like he was doing some kind of a Doctor Who impersonation, if that makes sense.

[During the swordfight (which was HORRIBLE) I was, like: Oh god. Worst. Swordfight. Ever. They couldn't bring in a choreographer for another few bucks, what?]

All the same, as I watched him go through his closet, I was chanting: "Go for the brown suit! The suit! With the converse! Go on! Do it." And then I sighed with relief.

[The Arthur Dent mention was good, too.]

Re: scattered impressions (recorded in your journal! woo!)

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

Yes. That first paragraph. All of it. Yes.

Tennant, I think, has a long hard road to travel, following up an act like Eccleston. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt for the moment.